Learning Thursday is a blog series that features a new L&D article every other week along with discussion points.  Read and then share your own ideas by commenting below!  Check out the last Learning Thursday here.

For those who love astronomy, this post is for you.  I was recently asked to share an example of augmented reality (AR) being used as a self-paced learning tool.

For the past few months, I’ve been using a wonderful app call SkyView Free, which is available for iOS and Android devices.  Here is a link to its full description in the Google Play store.

This app uses augmented reality to reveal objects in the sky, including planets, galaxies, constellations, and satellites.  Just point your device at the sky or ground to see what is currently in that area of space.  (I took the screenshot on the left to give you an example.  I pointed my phone at the ceiling and discovered two planets and a constellation overhead.)  You can also search for a specific object in the sky and have your device guide you to its location.  And you can tap on an object to read general facts about it.

Imagine sitting around a campfire, using this mobile app to explore astronomy!  What a great example of augmented reality enabling people to learn in the moment.

What are some other examples of augmented reality being used as a self-paced learning tool?  Please comment below.

If you’re interested in developing your own 360 degree learning environment, check out Adobe Captivate 2019.  Connect with the author on Twitter or LinkedIn, and follow me on Adobe’s eLearning blog.

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2019-06-30 17:11:47

Can you share more about the self-paced learning tools? As a high school science teacher, I’d love to make my curriculum self-paced with a mix or VR/AR and labs that will have students interacting with material (like astronomy) in a very different way.

Thanks for sharing!

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2019-07-01 08:04:53

Self-paced learning for a series of courses is best managed by a LMS. Katrina will point without any doubt to Captivate Prime, one of the best available at this moment. But your high school may already have a LMS available.

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2019-07-02 04:35:54

I’ll look into it. Thanks!

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2019-07-02 07:18:15

Worthwhile to give it a try!

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2019-06-14 19:14:04

VR is being introduced into many aspects of pilot training to reduce the cost of courseware maintenance.

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2019-05-18 07:36:54

Thanks for the tip, wished I could have another trip to the Sahara (watch my website) and have the possibility to use that app (no light contamination).

At this moment I am working with a trainee (somewhere in Australia) to use VR for exploration of highly technical rooms in a clinic. It will be 360° slides in a normal cptx project, because not all information in a course is suited for 360° images/video. Add to that some normal content slides and interactive video (2D) and the course is becoming a lot more engaging.

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